GetUp! Voices for Transparency

From GetUp! , regarding their campaign to ensure that deceptive “pregnancy counselling” services are legally required to be honest up-front about their anti-abortion stance:

When GetUp! and Reproductive Choice Australia began this campaign last year, nearly 20,000 of you signed the petition to stop the deception. We took your concerns to Parliament House and then two inquiries; your support led to exposure in national media and helped empower a new coalition of women senators to join forces. Now we need your help again to make this win for women a reality. Here are the facts:

The Pregnancy Counselling (Truth in Advertising) Bill 2006 has been co-sponsored by Senators Natasha Stott-Despoja (Democrats), Judith Troeth (Liberal), Carol Brown (Labor) and Kerry Nettle (Greens) – and you can read it for yourself on our website. It requires all agencies to disclose in their advertising whether or not they refer for termination of pregnancy, and applies fines to those who fail to advertise transparently.

It’s pretty commonsense, yet the political will inside the Liberal and Labor parties is faltering – even though the need for transparency has ever been greater, with Tony Abbott’s $15.5 million national “Pregnancy Helpline” set to launch next Tuesday. It’s time to get your voice heard: write a letter to the editor today and ask for truth in advertising to be extended to all Australians, not just some. If you like you can also contact decision-makers with the power to see the Bill succeed.

There’s more on their website, including a note you can use to alert friends and family to the campaign, which I’ll reproduce below. GetUp! could also use some donations to keep this and other important social justice campaigns rolling.

Hi,

Most of us take it for granted that businesses aren’t allowed to deceive and mislead us in their advertising. But if someone you care about is ever faced with an unplanned pregnancy, watch out.

There’s a loophole under Australian law that allows pregnancy counsellors who don’t charge a fee to say whatever they like in their advertising: ads they place online, in doctors’ offices, police stations, magazines and the phone book. It’s confusing, unfair an totally unnecessary.

Whatever our personal views on abortion, this is about every person’s right to make an informed choice about who to go to for help and advice. Thankfully, four women senators are working across party lines to close the truth in advertising loophole, but they need public support now.

I’m part of a campaign to give them that support, and I hope you’ll join me in writing a quick letter to the editor now. If you like, you can also contact decision-makers with the power to make sure this cross-party Bill succeeds. It’s easy to stand up for the truth – just click on the link below.